Kuaishou's chip spin-off secured funding to accelerate in-house semiconductor designs, responding to AI chip export controls targeting China.

Chinese internet giants are increasingly expanding into semiconductor design, betting that proprietary chips will provide greater control over computing infrastructure as artificial intelligence workloads surge and geopolitical tensions restrict access to advanced foreign technology.

Kuaishou is the latest to pursue this strategy. Its chip spin-off TranStreams raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A+ financing round this week led by QF Capital, according to ITJuzi.com, a local start-up database platform. Other investors in the round included a state-backed investment vehicle under the Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Fund, Baidu's venture arm, and XGD, a Shenzhen-based digital payment technology provider.

Beijing-based TranStreams originated from the heterogeneous computing and chip unit Kuaishou established in 2018. The company was spun off in March 2024 to focus on developing its SL200 system-on-chip for video processing and AI inferencing.

Neither Kuaishou nor TranStreams responded to requests for comment.

The funding reflects growing investor confidence in this sector, which has attracted major players including ByteDance, Baidu, and Alibaba Group Holding. These companies are seeking to reduce long-term computing costs and decrease reliance on third-party suppliers with proprietary semiconductors.